I put the Galaxy S25 Edge and Galaxy S25 Ultra through a 10-round photo face-off — here’s the winner
Apart from its smaller battery, a big trade-off that many point out about the Galaxy S25 Edge is its camera system. Unlike the rest of the S25 lineup, the Edge only gets a dual camera setup — a 200MP main sensor paired with a 12MP ultrawide.
The only thing the S24 Edge is lacking is a dedicated telephoto camera, which shouldn’t be too bad, right?
Well, it’s tougher because of its $1,099 cost, which isn’t too far away from the $1,299 sticker price attached to the S25 Ultra. Sammy’s flagship comes with two dedicated telephoto cameras, a 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom and a 50MP one with a slightly longer 5x optical lens. They complement the S25 Ultra’s 200MP main sensor and 50MP ultrawide.
There are clearly differences between them, but I mention in my Galaxy 25 Edge review how its main camera performs just as good as the S25 Ultra. Still, it’s going to take more than that to convince people the Edge is the one to get.
It’s no surprise that the Galaxy S25 Ultra is the best phone and best camera phone you can get right now, made better by its longer battery life and added S Pen utility.
I’ve taken both phones with me to capture the same scenes, then preview them on my computer to inspect their differences. In this Galaxy S25 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Ultra photo face-off, there can only be one that comes out on top.
Galaxy S25 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: Daytime
After taking countless shots with their main cameras, I can say that their performances are more or less identical — which is a good thing. Overlooking Bryant Park’s sprawling lawn, it’s almost hard to tell the two apart because they’re similar.
Both phones do an excellent job of exposing the entire scene, including the shadows all around the trees in the background. Details in the foreground, like the chairs with Bryant Park etched on them and the wooden box, all look the same. Farther away in the background, the surrounding buildings and skyscrapers all hold the same amount of detail.
Winner: Tie
Galaxy S25 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: Ultrawide
This is another reason why you can’t always judge a camera by its specs. On paper, it seems that the S25 Edge is at a disadvantage with its 12MP ultrawide camera — especially against the pixel packed 50MP ultrawide of the S25 Ultra. But since the phones by default downsize images to 12MP, their performances look very similar.
At the corner of Broadway and 42nd street near Times Square, I pointed both cameras straight up to see how much of the scene they could capture. Even though Samsung hasn’t disclosed its field of view, it appears as though the Edge has a wider one over the Ultra.
Meanwhile, the exposure of the shot and details throughout the scene, like the one way and Broadway signs to the left, all appear identical. But since the S25 Edge has a smidge wider reach, I’m giving it the win here.
Winner: Galaxy S25 Edge
Galaxy S25 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: Colors
Without switching to other color profiles, it’s clear that Samsung’s signature style is evident in how they produce colors by default. It’s all about the saturated tones with these shots inside of Whole Foods by the produce section.
Many of the colors appear to be the same, like the yellow peppers on the middle shelf and green squash to the right. However, the red peppers on the top right and middle shelves are much more oversaturated with the S25 Ultra. I personally don’t mind, but it’s more of an unrealistic look compared to the Edge — which is still saturated in tone in my opinion.
Winner: Galaxy S25 Edge
Galaxy S25 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: Dynamic range
Their main cameras again appear to have no major differences, as these shots from Bryant Park underneath the trees deliver the same exposure. I like how they prioritize the exposure on the trees, so the areas in shadow are brightened up a bit.
With the buildings peeking from behind the trees, they’re overblown by the two phones, but neither one seems to be better or worse with this.
Winner: Tie
Galaxy S25 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: Panorama
Sticking with their main cameras for capturing panoramas (instead of their ultrawide cams), it’s another similar outcome between the S25 Edge and S25 Ultra.
Most notably, they cast the same exposure from left to right — struggling a bit with the brighter spots in the middle, which is due to how they compensate for the shot starting from the left. That area was in shadow when I started the shot more so than the rest, which explains the overexposure in the middle.
Winner: Tie
Galaxy S25 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: Selfie
Both phones have 12MP (f/2.2) selfie cameras, and based on all the selfies I shot of myself, I can say they’re identical. I really like how they capture the same fine details around my face, like my hairline and slight stubble.
The S25 Edge and S25 Ultra capture the same details in the fabric of my hoodie. And finally, I don’t see any difference in how my skin tone looks — which gets the exposure treatment to brighten me up a little.
Winner: Tie
Galaxy S25 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: Portrait
With my colleague Ryan Epps as my model, the portrait shots from the S25 Edge and S25 Ultra appear identical at first glance. There’s proper subject-background separation when I shot these portraits at 2x zoom, along with accurate blurring all around the edges of Ryan — including the two areas between his arms that can sometimes hang up some phones.
But when I zoom into his face, I notice an over-sharpening effect applied to the S25 Ultra’s shot, which does draw out a little more detail. It’s also worth pointing out that the S25 Ultra also offers portrait mode in 3x and 5x zoom, which I feel are better suited for portraits. In contrast, I’m locked into either 1x or 2x zoom with the S25 Edge.
Winner: Galaxy S25 Ultra
Galaxy S25 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: Macro
One of the trickiest parts of capturing macro photos with both phones is getting the same focus between them, since it’s really narrow the closer I get to subjects — and this is one of those examples. I will say, though, that both phones take exceptional macro shots that are rich in detail.
Overall, I like how the shots came out with this yellow flower. Not only are the petals well defined, but they also capture the water droplets all around it. But it ultimately comes down to focus, which in this case goes to the S25 Edge.
Winner: Galaxy S25 Edge
Galaxy S25 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: Zoom
So far in this Galaxy S25 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Ultra photo shoot-out, it’s been largely a close race with neither one proving to me its cameras are considerably better. But as I’ve alluded earlier on, the lack of a dedicated telephoto camera with the S25 Edge could be a big trade-off for those needing to get closer.
I captured these telephoto shots at 10x zoom, seeing that’s where the S25 Edge maxes out — whereas the S25 Ultra goes to an ridiculous 100x zoom.
Right away, there’s a noticeable difference in what they capture with more detail and definition from the S25 Ultra’s dedicated 50MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom. I can make out the individual bricks and other ornamental details around the building, which appear as nothing more than streaky details with the S25 Edge.
For all the optimizations and enhancements that Samsung applies with the Galaxy S25 Edge’s shot, its performance just can’t match what an optical lens offers.
Winner: Galaxy S25 Ultra
Galaxy S25 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: Low light
Despite the rainy and windy conditions, the low light shots I captured with both phones appear to deliver the same qualities — which I’m not surprised given how similar their main cameras behave. The scene above was actually darker than what the images show, which proves how well they are at brightening up dark conditions with their night modes.
I don’t see much difference between the S25 Edge and S25 Ultra here, as they properly boost the exposure to draw out the hidden details around the tree, while also mitigating the strong light source in the background. When it comes to low light, they can turn any dim scene and make them bright.
Winner: Tie
Galaxy S25 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Ultra: Verdict
Technically this Galaxy S25 Edge vs Galaxy S25 Ultra photo shoot-out is a tie after tallying up the results, but it’s not in my opinion. While the Galaxy S25 Edge wins in categories like colors and ultrawide, its margin of victory is narrow in those rounds.
In contrast, the Galaxy S25 Ultra proves to be superior when it comes to its portrait and telephoto performances. The former isn’t a huge stretch over the S25 Edge, but its telephoto performance can’t be overlooked because of the amount of detail it’s able to capture. This gives the S25 Ultra an inherent advantage for capturing subjects farther away.
I’m not saying that the $200 difference separating the two is justified solely by the S25 Ultra’s telephoto performance, but it’s just one of many things that would convince me to buy the Ultra over the Edge.
Based on its performance, I would suspect the S25 Ultra would also have a benefit with video recording with its telephoto capabilities. All of these reasons validate my sentiments of the S25 Ultra being the better phone overall.
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